A new test version of a single website for government was made live today.

‘Inside government’ is the corporate platform that will be for specialists seeking a ‘behind the scenes’ look at what government is doing, as opposed to the front-facing service government provides for citizens.

6-week trial with 10 departments

The beta will run for a 6-week period with the initial participation of 10 government departments. The Department of Health is one of the participating departments. All departmental homepages are presented in the same way on the site, with common navigation and formats. This makes it simpler and clearer for users who need to find information from or about multiple departments. During this time, the Government Digital Service will be gathering data and feedback about how it works.

Consistent and clear way to describe government policy

The new site offers a consistent and clear way to describe government policy making it simpler to see how government works. Links to all the news, speeches and publications that relate to each policy area appear on pages automatically as they are added to the system.

Background

The Government Digital Service in the Cabinet Office is leading the work to make digital the primary medium for public services and information. Martha Lane Fox proposed ‘digital by default’ in her report into Government’s use of online channels in November 2010. One of her recommendations was that a single website should replace the hundreds of current government websites.

All of the content on the test website will be clearly marked as “test content”, to avoid any potential for confusion with our current live website.

We expect a single government website to begin to replace some existing government websites in the later part of 2012.

Comments and suggestions invited

We will continue to publish test content during the 6 week test, and encourage health and care professionals to use the test site and submit feedback. So take a look and submit your comments and suggestions or tweet @GovUK or by emailing govuk-feedback@digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk